the first in the presidential debates in this election cycle between president barack obama and former massachusetts governor mitt romney. the stage is ready in denver, colorado. the university of denver. and all of the expectations management to the contrary, the two men you're going to see tonight are very good debaters. they have four ivy league degrees between them, after all, and 50 debates between them, though not against each other until tonight. there is a critical third man on that stage tonight in denver. that's the moderator, jim lehrer of pbs. he's done a dozen of these. and the rules, which he will announce at the start, give him broad leeway to guide the conversation and the debate. it is a cold room in denver. the campaigns wanted the temperature low. and it's not likely to stay that way once we get under way. both men have been prepping for days. this happens to be the obamas' 20th wedding anniversary. moments ago we saw a warm embrace between mrs. romney and mrs. obama. they both met each other at the front of the hall. their hiss, this is the first of three meetings d